November 15, 2016

My money is not money any more!

We will remember 9 November 2016 as the day when the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in our wallets ceased to be money. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a television address to the nation at about 8 pm on 8 November, announced demonetisation of these two denominations of currency. We were in Chennai when this happened, and Harsha was driving us to the airport so we could catch our 10 pm flight back to Hyderabad.

The news first hit us via the ubiquitous Whatsapp...my friend Rekha messaged on our college group. We were sure it was a hoax. Soon, people on other groups to started posting this news, and we began sitting up, quite alarmed by this sudden announcement. The change would become effective 4 hours from the time we heard it!

It was about 11.30 pm by the time we reached Hyderabad and took a cab. We were not sure that our money would work. Luckily, we managed to get a cab who would accept the 'old' currency, and so, we got home.

Modi had opened a Pandora's box, no less. He had managed to take the entire country's mind off what was happening 10,000 miles away - the election in the United States of America between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump!

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About Me

I find peace when I am surrounded by unlandscaped greenery; when I climb up the beautiful Deccani rocks around Hyderabad; I love being among people I care about; I love being a child (I haven't forgotten how to be one)... For a living, I edit and design books, and write sometimes, mainly for children. A flexitime home-office person, I 'multiple-up' as mother, wife, home-maker. I don't like cooking too much, but it is great to be a mother...

Words I like

Why should we be in such a haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau